Attachments

Step 1: Prepare the Motherboard

Pop in your earbuds, turn up some tunes, and spend some quality time with your heatgun.

If you have a sacrificial toaster oven big enough, that would probably work as well.

Be sure to save the electronics components! All those capacitors and connectors are pretty useful for other hacking projects.

Step 2: Cut Out the Frames

I designed the frame plates in Solidworks, and used a ShopBot Alpha at my local TechShop to mill out the motherboard.

Remember to use dust collection and proper PPE. Milling on fiberglass can be pretty nasty.

Step 3: Assemble the Arms

This guide isn't meant to be a tutorial on how to build quadcopters. For those, sites like FliteTest are helpful.

I ziptie everything I can. They're plenty rigid for normal flight, but break in a clash, absorbing the impact. I'm using Turnigy 2830/11 1000kv motors. They're horribly unbalanced, but for $10 I'm not complaining.

Step 4: Prepare the Electronics

Step 5: Assemble the Quadcopter

Time to make your connections! Follow the instructions for your flight controller and receiver choice. Here, I'm using a MultiWii Flip 1.5. I use a lot of outdoor mounting tape for securing electronics components.

Step 6: Add the Props, and Fly!

I don't deal with prop adapters anymore- If you're using cheap chinese motors and props, your setup will be out of balance anyway. Zipties work just as well.

This quadcopter flies very well- the frame is quite rigid and handles gusty wind well. The MultiWii flip with the flashed ESC's work great with the default settings. Check out the video for some flight footage!